And so they stood in silence
by AvaEobane
Summary: But then, the fragile happiness they had stolen started to collapse. # Fu and friends, Lan Fan's family, Ling's family and LingFan # Happy Birthday, CallousVulpix!


_And so they stood in silence_

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_Disclaimer: disclaimed_

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_It's not exactly happy material and I've written better things but this is for CallousVulpix._

_Happy (belated) birthday!_

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Tao Fang had known since he had been a little boy that he would be the one to be left behind. He had known that he would be the only one to die from old age, growing old and grey. He had known that he would be the one to bring flowers to the ever lengthening list of names on the memorial plaque.

He had often felt silly when he thought this because he had never been one to believe in destiny. Fu, yes, Fu had believed in destiny when they had been young fools.

* * *

He had been sure that Fu would go first for the longest time. Fu, who had served the House of Yao from such a young age and is sent on the most missions of any of them. He is most skilled of them who were all disgustingly skilled and people tell horror stories about his prowess.

Then his older brother Cai died.

Tao attended the service and does his best to comfort Fu and Lan Li, the Ming-princess who had a major crush on Fu, who both cried tears in equal measures. Fu left the main squad shortly thereafter and started pursuing a family of all things.

He married Lan Li less then a year later. They had their first child, a young boy, and Tao watched how Chen becomes her godfather.

* * *

Chen married a girl from the village fairly shortly afterward – probably because he had wanted the same happiness Fu already had – they had always been rivals to a certain degree and it was highly unlikely that Chen would allow Fu to get too far ahead of him. Tao attended the wedding as the best man. He knew they would have rather had Cai but he smiled and did his best not to remind them of their fallen comrade.

* * *

The biggest scandal of their generation was revealed when Tian and his girlfriend from a smaller clan had their first child and declared that they were living together – even though they weren't married but they still lived happily. Tao was given the task to get them to settle down properly but he failed the mission and they didn't marry until the Twelfth Civil War was finally over.

Somehow, he didn't feel like he'd failed the village though when he saw the three of them at the park, playing like any normal family.

* * *

On New Years Day, three of their age group were found in the snow having been sent on an assassination mission almost a month earlier. Fu didn't speak until the funeral was over because it was the first time they lost three comrades at one. Among them was Tao's fatherly mentor, Ling.

Tao took Ling's death far better than most people who knew him expected but he still locked himself away for eight days. He didn't tell anyone but he considered ending his life then and there because he hadn't been sure whether he'd be able to handle being the last one left or not.

He never got to a conclusion.

* * *

Lord Yao's young wife died in childbirth the same day her husband was made leader of the village. Tao could see the emptiness and despair in spite of the victory in the hollow eyes of the prince and he felt how an eternal silence haunted the complete village.

* * *

But life was happy for a long time after that.

Tao married as the last one among his friend's – even after Tian. They were happy – at least for a while – as they watched their children and grandchildren grow. Fu watched how Jun Li and Chao grew and blossomed fairly early in their lives while Lan Fan stayed a bud a little bit longer. Tao congratulated his friend when Jun Li was accepted as Imperial Bodyguard at the tender age of nine because this was the proof of his friend's prowess at teaching and it showed that even orphaned and traumatised little girls could reach their goals if they only fought for them. Chao stood back and watched how his slightly younger cousin gained fame and glory and he smiled along the way, taking care of her daughter which was the result of an affair with the Yao-prince Lei.

* * *

Chao Wei adored Min Li, his cousin's daughter.

To him, the little girl was the most precious little being on the entire planet and when he caught a warrior from a rivalling village in the nursery, he didn't ask many questions. Jun Li had left the country after Jun Yao, the emperor she had served nearly all her life, had died and so she wasn't there to project her own daughter which she believed to be dead anyway. Chao had never been one to like killing but when his heaven, his Min Li was involved, he reconsidered quickly and went through with it.

A single opponent was for the katana expert of a clan full with weapons experts nothing but a bad joke anyway.

* * *

But then, the fragile happiness they had stolen started to collapse.

The Bo-clan was nearly erased in a single night. The Wei-clan heard the screams but until they were there to help their old allies, it was all over and the formerly biggest clan of the village counted only twelve members – a tenth of their former number. Chen had survived the attack though and Tao suspected that he had been deemed too old to be a danger or too wise to seek revenge.

His grandson Jing was a different story.

* * *

The happiness ended completely when, on a mission to Amestris, Fu was murdered. Tian was found dead a week later in his bed with a small vial in his hand. The members of the Fang-clan swore that they didn't give him the poison but Tao was still suspicious about his grandson Ping who was engaged to Tian's granddaughter Meimei who had often mentioned that her grandfather was in terrible pain after a failed surgery. Another reason for him to die was that Tian had seen the numbers of his old friend's dwindling.

* * *

Lan Fan of all people was the one to snatch the prince before one of the girlish, bratty princesses could even think about it. Tao mused for a moment when he looked at the beaming girl whether or not Fu had seen this coming. The eyes of the Wei-clan were rumoured to be the best in the whole village yet it seemed to be everything logical that anyone had been able to see that the shy granddaughter would get a prince.

That her sister had managed to get Prince Lei had been a little scandal but those who knew Jun Li knew that she would get whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it and a prince was no exception from this rule.

To Lan Fan's credit it had to be said that Ling had been the one to be all over her once they had returned from their mission which had been the cause of Fu's death. Ling had been sending presents and flowers for weeks. Ling had been dragging her around and Ling had been the one to kiss her first … she had blushed so brightly that bystanders had feared that she might pass out.

Tao had only chuckled as he had remembered Lan Li, the girl's grandmother, who had been the _Empress of Crimson Faces_. Well, Lan Fan would be the Empress of whole Xing.

* * *

Tao watched how Tian's granddaughter Meimei who was appointed as Jing's teacher struggled to keep her student on the right path. When she was eighteen and Jing sixteen, she finally failed after a battle that nearly took her life. Her other students, Fu's great-granddaughter Min Li, Tao's own grandson Ping and Meimei's younger brother Lee, nursed their sensei back to health and grew to hate their former teammate for his selfishness that had nearly murdered their beloved teacher.

* * *

Chao Wei, heir to the Wei-clan, had always had a bad health and when the bubble he had built while he had been fine finally burst, everything came crashing down. Lan Fan arrived in the village, pregnant and distressed, but nothing she could do would stop the coughing and the blood – oh dear Dragons – the _blood_ he coughed up. Jun Li who had started a new life in Amestris after her emperor had died returned as well but she couldn't even face her cousin because it hurt _oh so much_ to know that she had failed him over and over again. Min Li, the supposed weakling Chao had raised since she was a little baby, finally made her way to the Ming-clan where the greatest healers could be found and downright dragged the best healer in whole Xing to her uncle's bedside.

* * *

A few hours of extensive alkahestry usage later, Chao breathed easily and drifted into a peaceful slumber that allowed him to recover completely.

Lee and Ping couldn't stand Jing's betrayal because Meimei had been their queen and Min Li – Min Li who had been called a weakling by her kinsmen – was the one to bring down her former friend who had also been her first lover … and she swore that day with her eyes bloodshot and her hands tainted crimson that he would also be her last.

Ping knew better and as she recovered under the tender care of the people who actually cared for her, she learned how to love again.

* * *

The wedding between Ping Fang and Meimei Cho, the new and first female leader of the village was celebrated like the world had just found its new centre. Tao watched how his grandson beamed all the time as his best man Lee gave him a talk about how to treat his older sister as Min Li, healthy and happy once more, clung to Chao's arm as if it was the only constant thing in the whole world – and to her, it probably was.

* * *

Tao stood on a hill and overlooked the village he had given everything to protect along with Min Li and Chao, the respective heirs of the Wei-clan. Chao was Fu's grandson and Min Li was Fu's great-granddaughter and yet, they had married and were quite happy. Jing's betrayal and his death had left no traces on the young woman.

Tao hated to remind them of this but they had to know that one day, they would be the last ones to stand on this hill as he coughed up blood. He had consulted the healers before and unlike Chao's illness, this was terminal.


End file.
